Eagles Barely Escape Buccaneers: Late Heroics Mask Continued Struggles and Questionable Coaching

The trips to Tampa Bay every season have not been going well for the Birds. They at least opened this game in a different manner.

Though not a three-and-out, the defense forced a punt that the recently-promoted Cam Latu blocked with the ball bouncing right to Sydney Brown for a 35-yard return and a quick touchdown. After that is when they forced the three-and-out before the Eagles drove 73 yards on eight plays to score their second touchdown.

The Bucs were bailed out by stupid penalties from the Eagles young defenders and a garbage drive turned into a field goal just off of the penalty yardage. Saquon nearly broke off a run to go all the way, but an extra step dropped him at a seven yard gain and the Eagles punted the ball away.

That could have been a momentum-changing moment, but the defense allowed just one first down before forcing the punt again. The Eagles defense came back out and spread the ball around again to travel 67 yards on six plays and hit pay dirt for the third time.

Following another three-and-out by the defense, the Eagles burned the Buc’s timeouts and got themselves in field goal range to go up 24-3. The Bucs gained a few yards and lucked out with their kicker hitting a 65-yarder to leave the lead at just 18 heading into the half.

The offense looked like crap out of the half and punted after losing nine yards on three plays. That was followed by allowing a 46-yard return on the punt and Tampa Bay getting themselves in good position again. The defense stood tall, however, forcing a turnover on downs for the Eagles to get the ball back.

That didn’t wind up meaning anything as Jalen Hurts missed a wide-open AJ Brown down the field by throwing the ball out of bounds where Brown had no chance of making the play. That led to a punt where Andrew Mukuba botched his coverage for a 77-yard, one-play drive to let the Bucs back in.

Jalen Hurts responded with three straight terrible decisions to lose seven yards following a 39-yard return, to turn that return into literally nothing. The defense did all they could to try and get the Birds back into the game with a fumble recovery at the 25 of Tampa Bay, but the Eagles offense opted to just run the ball. On six plays, the Eagles ran the ball six times for 25 yards and a touchdown that put the offense back into the game and burned a bit of clock.

That might as well have not made any impact as far as the momentum as Jihaad Campbell botched his coverage of the running back and allowed a 72-yard touchdown on the basic wheel route – something every linebacker should know by high school. The garbage coverage by Campbell left the Eagles with just a two-score lead and an offense that hadn’t completed a pass the entirety of the quarter. Hurts came out and did absolutely nothing but hand the ball off and throw another off-target “attempt” that landed 5 yards out of bounds with no chance to catch it. Unsurprisingly, the Bucs sold out on the run and were ready for each run between the one off-target attempt. The Eagles got one first down on a penalty and then had to punt.

The garbage field position the offense handed over let the Bucs attempt another long field goal and the 58-yarder was made to make it a one-score game with over 12 minutes left in the game. Evidently, the decision was made to force the ball to AJ Brown and three straight passes to him (two where he wasn’t open and one off target) later the Eagles gained no yardage. They abandoned the spread offense they had been using to punt the ball away, I guess.

The Bucs were driving, but a huge play by Reed Blankenship pushed a potential touchdown pass off balance where it landed short for Campbell to make the interception right into his chest and prevent the score. A ten-yard run couldn’t overcome the fact that Hurts couldn’t get close to completing a pass and it was a quick three-and out despite Barkley breaking off his longest run of the game.

The defense failed to make the stop on 4th-and-1, then they turned a sack into a seven-yard run for another first down. Moro Ojomo came though with a big sack on second down to force a third and long with under two minutes left. On 4th and 10, it was Parry Nickerson who came up with the tackle at the point of the catch to get the turnover on downs.

The Eagles ran the ball to burn Tampa Bay’s timeouts and that left them with a fourth-down play with six seconds left in the game. Braden Mann took the ball and ran it back for a safety to run out the clock and secure the win for the Birds.

At 4-0, the Eagles will then head back to Philly to take on the playoff-hopeful Broncos as Philadelphia looks to maintain their undefeated record and the control of the division and possibly the conference.

Offensive MVP: Dallas Goedert

Goedert was the leading receiver with 37 yards and two touchdowns on shovel passes. Really, there wasn’t a standout. It has to be anyone other than Jalen Hurt or AJ Brown, however, as those two tanked the offense for an entire half and are the only reason this game was ever in question.

Defensive MVP: Reed Blankenship

There are so many arguments to be made, but I think Blankenship made the biggest play of the game. He missed a tackle early, but his tip to force the interception was the only reason the Bucs couldn’t just kick a field goal to win the game. That’s the play of the game and it was made by the captain. He ended with four tackles and two tipped passes in this one.

Game Notes

• Kickoff/punt coverage was bailed out by penalties on one drive, but allowed a 46-yard return on a 60+ yard punt later in the game. For a special teams unit with all these blocks, you’d think they’d be prepared to make a simple tackle and cover return lanes with any basic level of skill.
• Cooper DeJean took a stupid taunting penalty for a really weak stepover and then Jalyx Hunt took the illegal block. That 30 yards on back to back plays is what allowed the Bucs to get any points in the first quarter at all. It was a 49-yard drive with 30 of that from penalties. Not to mention that Mitchell should have probably gotten and unsportsmanlike after the play.
• The post-halftime offense was abysmal – it was as though they had decided the game was already won and didn’t come out ready to play. In particular, Jalen Hurts couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and then decided to once again stand in the pocket for as long as it took to get hit.
• The sweep off of the tush push lineup seemed like it was only a matter of time. It seems like it will become more likely along with screen options as teams line up all their defenders to stop the yard gain and the Eagles begin peeling those players back with these options off the side.
• By the time the Eagles had allowed this to become a one-score game again, their first and second round picks in this year’s draft had allowed 2 TDs and 149 yards on two plays. Tampa Bay had 0 TDs and 97 yards otherwise on nine drives.
• Andrew Mukuba was brutal in this game. He couldn’t cover the broad side of a barn in this game.
• The Eagles target counts in the second half looked like this: AJ Brown – 6 targets, 0 yards and Grant Calcaterra – 1 target, 0 yards. They went from a spread offense involving everyone but Brown to an AJ Brown-centered offense and that led to three-and-outs. The only drive they didn’t focus on Brown was the one drive in the second half they scored points.
• Parry Nickerson and Cam Latu, both of whom got promotions from the practice squad earlier this week, made key plays to secure a win against a playoff team. That’s how Howie Roseman wins on the margins.

Injury Notes

• Tyler Steen left in the second quarter and was replaced by Matt Pryor.
• Lane Johnson exited in the third quarter and was replaced by Fred Johnson.
• Jalen Carter exited in the second half with a shoulder injury. He did return at a later point.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers – September 28, 2025